Italy: Foundation earmarks 3.2 million for Afghan children

Rome: The foundation ‘Con i Bambini’ (with children) is launching an initiative in favor of over 1,400 Afghan children in Italy. The 3.2 million euros project involves some 100 social organizations already working on the ground to host Afghan minors and promote their inclusion.

Con i Bambini’s initiative to support Afghan minors in Italy is called “Comunità in crescita” (growing community) and is part of a fund to fight the educational poverty of minors.

The project is funded with €3.2 million and involves 100 social institutions already working on the ground to host Afghan minors and promote their social inclusion.

“At the end of August, the Fund to fight the educational poverty of minors started the initiative ‘With Afghan children’ and Con I Bambini immediately promoted a public invitation open to organizations of the Third sector with proven experience in the sector in order to start together actions to promote the education, inside and outside schools, and the inclusion of minors and families who had reached Italy from Afghanistan”, explained Marco Rossi-Doria, president of Con i Bambini, when the initiative was launched in Rome on Thursday, May 19.

The organization has started operations to reach 1,430 Afghan children in close cooperation with institutions, and in particualar the interior ministry, Rossi-Doria said, to come up with “a very concrete actions plan which can be replicated for similar events” in the future, he explained.

Each assisted minor will reportedly benefit from an individualized educational plan funded with a sum of money that will cover expenses, or about €1,500 per recipient.

The project’s organization is based on three territorial levels: local, macro-areas and national.

The macro areas selected, homogeneous for the number of Afghans hosted, are seven: Lombardy 246 minors, macro-area coordinated by Pangea Onlus; Liguria and Piedmont 189 minors, coordinated by Save the Children; Emilia Romagna, Veneto and Friuli 193 minors, coordinated by the Italian Refugee Council; Lazio and Campania 241 minors, coordinated by Arci; Sardinia and Tuscany 195 minors, coordinated by Cooperativa sociale Il Girasole; Abruzzo, Marche, Molise and Umbria 164 minors, coordinated by Consorzio Communitas; Basilicata, Calabria and Puglia 202 minors, coordinated by Salesiani per il Sociale.

The national team overseeing operations includes the organizations Con i Bambini, Tavolo minori migranti, Tavolo asilo e immigrazione, AOI and Consorzio Communitas.